NTL an event for both young and old

From 9am this morning the playing fields at C.ex Coffs International Stadium and its surrounds were supposed to filled with touch football players.

Sadly a total of 65mm of rain fell on Coffs Harbour yesterday in the space of only 14 hours forcing organisers to announce that the first day of NTL 2018 has been washed out.

Officials believe the rainfall has resulted in unsafe playing conditions and flooded fields not conducive to play.

A statement from Touch Football Australia was confident the show will go on from tom,orrow.

"Thankfully the weather is due to start clearing up from Wednesday, which will allow the fields a chance to dry out and ensure conditions are playable for the remainder of the tournament," the statement said.

A draw is currently being recreated to enable all scheduled games to occur from Thursday onwards under a 30-minute format. The new draw will be available by noon.

At this stage Saturday's finals will remain as originally scheduled and formatted as two 20-minute halves.

ORIGINAL STORY: NTL an event for both young and old

WHILE the National Touch League, which kicks off in Coffs Harbour this morning, is so much about the young athletes playing in the Elite Eights competition, this year's event is different.

Touch football is enjoying its 50th anniversary this year, which makes it apt that the NTL at the C.ex Coffs International Stadium and surrounding fields will feature for the first time an over-60s competition.

Among the 123 teams and the more than 2500 players, referees and team officials, there'll be four teams of men aged 60-plus competing.

"It will be fantastic to see the over-60s showing at national level for the very first time the skills and fitness they've gained through several decades of playing the sport," Touch Football Australia chief executive Steve Mitchell said.

"NRL touch football is a game for life. Many people in the touch community have played non-stop, others have started in touch, gone on to play in the NRL, then come back to touch football - including rugby league legend Cliff Lyons, who will be playing at NTL this year in the men's 55s for the Sydney Scorpions."